Isaiah 37:14-20: HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER

Intro

Hello MSM, I am so excited to be hear with you this morning, man I don't know about y’all but the summer is flying by, I mean I am moving back to college in literally 2 weeks its crazy I feel like I just got out of school for the summer, anyway, alright so today we will be in the book of Isaiah in Isaiah 37:14-20, and we will be looking at Hezekiah’s prayer in Response to Adversity. First I want to give you a visual of what's going on here, so basically let me ask what if you were the king of a Nation and received a letter from your enemy saying my million men army is about to capture and take your country down, and your the King, and you receive this letter, I don't know about you but I am probably going to freak out not going to lie, I mean a million men are currently surrounding my people and I can't do a single thing about and its too late to really fight back because like I said they are already surrounding all of the cities, I want to ask real quick what would you do? This is open for someone to say something.

Context

In this passage in Isaiah 37:14-20, Hezekiah is the king of Judah, he has just received a letter from Sennacherib as a warning that the Assyrians has set out to fight against him, in response to the letter as he has been threatened by the powerful Assyrian Armies. Instead of freaking out or giving in, you know what he does? He prays. He knows what the problem that is at hand he knows that at any moment he and alot of the people of kingdom of Judah could be killed however he knows that God is the sovereign over everything and he will be faithful, in this time of adversity instead of folding to adversity he went to the Lord in prayer. The way in which Hezekiah prays is something we should take note of. In his prayer Hezekiah recognizes God. He Requests God. Hezekiah believed in God’s power to save him and the kingdom of Judah from the power of the enemy. This is a model for prayer. When we pray we need Recognize God, Request God, and Believe God. In verse 14-15, we see Hezekiah receives a letter, and it’s a letter of warning. When Hezekiah sees the letter and his immediate response was prayer, he could have read the letter and just been like well guys we are cooked, and there is no hope, however Hezekiah turned to the Lord. In verse 15, Hezekiah prayed.

Take a second and think about a time in your life that you had something really hard and challenging happen to you, how did you respond to that challenge what did you turn to first?

In your seasons of struggle and pain be like Hezekiah and turn not to yourself or the world but go to the Lord in prayer, three things we will talk about today as we breakdown Hezekiah’s prayer, When you pray Recognize God, Request God, and Believe God.

When You Pray...

1. Recognize God.

The first thing we wee when we pray is that we Recognize God, and the first little point we see is Recognize God’s identity.

A. God’s identity

In verse 16, we see Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. When you see LORD CAPITALIZED THAT MEANS YHWEH. In his prayer, he recognized God as the Lord of Hosts, or Lord of Armies depends on translation, Lord of Armies or Lord of Hosts refers to God as our warrior one who fights for our battles for us, Exodus 14:14 talks about how YHWEH is the God who fights our battles we only have to trust in him. God of Israel identifies that the God Hezekiah is praying to is the truly the one and only God, the God who has brought the Israelites out of Egypt and the wilderness, who has brought them into the land of Israel, and delivered them from enemies in the past, and by Hezekiah recognizing this he is recounting God’s faithfulness in the past, is it possible that when you pray you forget who God is, and what’s he done in the past, like think about how faithful the Lord has been to you in your life, when you pray recognize that you are praying to God who redeems his people, and makes us whole again. Friends today never lose sight of the miracle and the gift of God saving you from your sins today, and how God has delivered you from the wilderness of your sins today just like he delivered Israelites. When you recognize God, it’s about giving thanks and reflecting on the things that God has delivered you from, by Recognizing God’s identity you are able to understand just a glimpse of what God has done for you.

Illustration: You know someone to use as a example here is Moses, when Moses cried out to the Lord to rescue his people from the wilderness, he recognized who God was, he called God by different names like God of Abraham, God of Jacob which is also God of Israel, and this Moses reminding himself in prayer who he is talking to but he is also recognizing that only God had the power to bring the Israelites out of the wilderness, just like he promised to Abraham and Jacob.

B. God’s Sovereignty.

The second thing about God you should recognize in prayer is his sovereignty. You have probably heard this word used in so many different ways, but I want to explain to you what God’s sovereignty is, according to John Piper, a faithful pastor and Theologian, his definition is that “God is powerful and authoritative to the extent of being able to override all other powers and authorities.” In Hezekiah’s prayer, he is recognizing that God is indeed sovereign over every nation when you look at verse 16, he says this “enthroned between the cherubim, you are God alone- I want to focus on this section for a second what does that mean? You could go very deep into this the main thing that I have gathered from researching about this because I was very curious is that often commentators use this phrase in reference to God’s sovereignty, holinesss and presence among his people. So in this part of the verse Hezekiah is recognizing that God is sovereign and is present with his people. What does this mean for us? How often do we realize when are we praying that we are actually praying to all powerful all knowing omincent, omnipresent God, like we get to be in relationship and prayer with the God who created everything around us, like how sick is that? This is huge in our prayer life that when we are recognizing God that we are recognizing just how powerful he is, and holy he is, and how present he is with us. Right after just a little bit more into this verse, “You are God alone-of all the kingdoms of the earth.” Hezekiah when he comes before the Lord in prayer is realizing who he is praying to that he is praying to the God who is the creator of all things, and he recognizes that when faced with challenges like the one he is facing, he recognizes he cannot do this with out the power and sovereignty of God. Right here we see Hezekiah is giving all his credit to our God who is the only God, and is sovereign over every nation, he recognizes who the true king of the world is here.

Illustration: Jesus recognizes God’s sovereignty in his prayer in the Garden, when Jesus is in the Garden of Gathesame, he prays not my will but your will be done, this is Jesus recognizing the sovereignty of God, recognizing what is going to happen, Jesus is surrendering to the Father’s will, if the perfect son of God has to surrender to the will of God, how much more do we need to surrender and recognize the sovereignty of God.

C. God’s Work.

Notice here the third thing about Recognize God and that is Recognize God’s Work. In the last part verse 16, we see that Hezekiah straight up says, “You made the heavens and the Earth.” Here Hezekiah is recognizing not only God’s identity, not just that he is sovereign over everything but he is also recognizing God’s work, Hezekiah when he is recognizing God he is ascribing all the praise to God, notice here in the first verse he’s not asking God anything yet, but he is recognizing the character of God. Why does Hezekiah say this? Why is it important? Simple, he is implying that the God who created everything, also sustains everything, and therefore if anyone can defeat and take down oppressive enemies he can, so the real question , maybe you don’t have a army of million men coming at you, but it just feels like satan is using everything he can to bring you down, whatever it may be, today I pray that you would just recognize the power and the sovereignty of the God we are praying to, when you are praying to God you are not praying to a genie who is going to grant you every wish, but you are praying to the God who has created you and I, and everything around us, do not lose sight of that.

Illustration: You know someone who lost sight of God’s work Job, and you know how God responded to Job, he asked him where you there when I created the foundations of the world, where you there? When you pray don't lose sight of God’s work in creation, I mean look around you the God we are praying to is the same God who created the entire world, and guess what he is still involved in the world today, and saving us from the power of the enemy, you see Job suffered alot, and when Job lost sight of God’s work in creation, God reminded who created the earth, in the same way, today maybe you need to reminded that when you are praying to God you are praying to the God who created the world, so if anyone can deliver you from the enemy God can.

When you recognize God in prayer you recognize who God is, and how he has been faithful in your life.

Question: When you pray how often do you recognize who God is and give him gratitude that he deserves?

2. Request God.

The second main point in this passage, is Request God. First Request God to Listen

A. To Listen.

When you pray, ask God to listen, I can think of this moment in my mind, think about this, you have just received this letter and you know there is a million strong men of the Assyrian army after you, and has defeated other nations all around you, and this prayer that Hezekiah is praying has a lot of weight to it, like this is a cry of desperation, so I think looking at statement that Hezekiah makes here in verse 17, its not just like Hey God will you listen to me, but this a cry of desperation of Hezekiah, he is pleading with God to listen to him.

When you pray do you plead with God to listen, I’m not saying you have to ask God to listen as he already knows exactly what you are going to pray before you do, however I am saying like do you recognize your need for God to listen when you pray, do you know why should pray better question to ask, because Prayer is act of faith, by praying to God you are asking him to listen to you, you are asking the God who created the Universe who is sovereign over everything to listen to you, but you are also when you are praying showing your commitment and faith in the The Lord, the stronger your prayer life is the more faith and dependence you have on God. Hezekiah here is crying out the the Lord. Like he is coming before the Father face on the ground begging God to save them from the enemy, he is doing this because he knows that Hezekiah is fully dependent on God, Hezekiah knows that only God can save him and the people of Judah from the enemy. So when you request God, and you really want to bring a request before, desperately cry out in faith to God.

B. To See.

The second thing to see here, He asked God to, “Open your eyes, Lord and See.” Its not here that Hezekiah is doubting that God can’t see what’s going on, obvisouly God is ominpresent he knows what is going on, in this Hezekiah is crying out and pleading for the Lord to see and hear his prayer, by doing this he is showing his confidence to come before the throne of God, I mean he is asking the Lord to Listen and See what he already knows is happening, however one thing to see here is Hezekiah’s approach to the throne of God, he is confident in the Lord. Are you this confident in your prayer life, like are you asking God to listen and see you in what you are asking I think the main takeaway here is that we need to approach the throne of God with confidence and unwavering belief that the Lord is sovereign and he is relational, and can handle any big prayer. You’ve heard the saying probably before Big God Big prayers, friends don’t be afraid of big prayers, I think sometimes we forget that the God we pray to is sovereign and just over everything, so be like Hezekiah pray big prayers to the Lord, I promise you there is no too big prayer that God can’t handle.

Illustration: In this cry, I think of Admonir Judson’s cry. Let me give you a little story on Judson. He and his wife, Ann Judson, were among the first American missionaries to be sent overseas. Judson spent nearly 40 years in Burma, facing immense challenges, and he was lost his wife and infant child around the same time, Judson faced immense sadness from the loss of wife and infant child like can you imagine, for sometime he hid out in the woods of Burma because he was griefing so hard over the loss his wife and his child, and God saw the situation he was in, and eventually after some time Judson continued his work there. Through the trials he knew that God was sovereign over everything and it was all a part of his plan. and he cried out before the Lord, he did not even want to be alive but the Lord I believe saw his cry for help and he Judson continued his work, guess what because of that Burma now has a Bible in their own language and there are many churches, you see Judson was not afraid of praying to God for big things, even when faced with big trials Judson never stopped approaching the throne of God with confidence. Hezekiah here is also approaching the throne of GOd with confidence, as believers no matter how big the situation trial or whatever it is, we should approach God with confidence in prayer.

C. To Hear.

The third thing to see here is that he Requested God to hear. Notice at the end of verse 17 into verse 18, Hezekiah brings the real problem to the table, he talks about Sennacherib’s letter and how he is mocking the living God. In verse 18, he talks about how truthful it is that the Kings of Assyria are powerful and they have plummeted other nations, and devastated, like these people that Hezekiah and the people of Judah are against are brutal and are very strong, however in this we see in verse 19, how their gods can be burned or eve killed, however God cannot be destroyed and the reason Hezekiah says all this verse 17-19 in his prayer is because he knows that the only one who can bring justice to Sennacherib and his army is God. In awful situations the world is in right now, we can have hope and optimism like Hezekiah does because we know who can hear our cries for help and that is God because no matter what God is always still on throne and sovereign over all the earth.

When you pray Request God, because God is all powerful and sovereign and he is able to handle your requests.

I want to offer y’all some practical ways to pray, I can't stress to you enough how important your prayer life is as a believer.

Option 1: When you pray, journal your prayers, I think this method is very effective, like write our your requests before God and pray those requests back to God.

Option 2: When you pray, pray scripture, for example the Psalms. I pray a Psalm every morning and it has been such a great thing for me, praying scripture to God is very powerful.

Regardless of how you pray, I challenge you to stay constant in prayer, in fact the Bible commands us to, Paul talks about that Colossians 4, to be steadfast in prayer always, like you can't wear God out with your prayers always keeping going to throne of God in faith, and never lacking in it.

3. Believe God.

The third main point we see in this passage, when we pray we Believe God.

A. For his Salvation.

The first thing to see here is that when you pray, Believe God for His Salvation. You see after Hezekiah recognized God, by reconginznig his identity, sovereignty, and his work, he then requests God by asking him to listen, and for God to see and to hear, now we noted here that this is not that Hezekiah doesn’t believe that God is listening to him, he knows that, he is crying out to the Lord in desperation. You see Hezekiah here is showing a model of prayer for when we face a difficult situation. Here in verse 20, we see now, where HEzekiah is placing his trust in the Lord to deliver on his promise, he is believing God, and the first thing he is believing God is he Believes God for his salvation. Maybe right now in your life your in a situation, or whatever it may be do you believe in God’s power to save, did you know that as believers, we have the God of creation, who has brought Jesus his one and only son to us, so that we can have personal relationship with the Lord, did you know that God who brought the Israelites out of the wilderness, also brings us out of our sin, you see as Hezekiah believes God will save him and the kingdom of Judah from the enemy, we should also believe that God will save us from the enemy who is trying seek, kill, and destroy us. Guess what today if your a believer in this room and are stuck in a situation believe God’s power today to save you from the attacks of the enemy, I can’t stress enough to y’all we have a war going on that we can’t even see, and I want y’all to know that if you are believer in here today, you will face attack from the enemy, but take heart Jesus has overcome to the world, God has defeated the enemy, the saying goes when the devil reminds you of your past, you remind of his future. So believe God will save today, believe that when you pray believe God to rescue you from the power of the enemy.

Hezekiah here is believing that God will save him and the kingdom of Judah, he has faith in God to deliver him from the grips of the enemy. Here’s the thing, though I believe Hezekiah is not only in this passage praying for the redemption of Judah, but I believe Hezekiah is praying for a true savior for the whole world, I believe that because HEzekiah is not just praying for the Lord’s glory to be made known in Judah, but of all the kingdoms of the Earth, and the only person that is capable of saving us from the grips of the enemy and making the glory of God known among all the kingdoms of the earth is Jesus.

I believe that in this passage this prayer is a cry of Hezekiah to God bring about a true savior among Israel who will make the Glory of God known among all the nations.

Guess what Jesus is that true savior, since Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, buried, and was raised to life on the third day we can have life. Jesus saves, Amen, so praise God for his Salvation, and in this passage Hezekiah is Believing God for his salvation.

Do you believe God for his salvation? I remember when I believed God for his salvation for the first time, I remember I was at my church’s winter retreat and I was 14 years old, when I was five I went down in front of my church and claimed to be a believer but I never really believed God for salvation until I was 14 years old, I can remember the moment when I truly repented and believed in God the Holy Spirit convicted me and brought me to salvation, and I believed God for his salvation for the first time, I do not know where you are today, but maybe you have said you believe in God before but never have Believed God truly for salvation, or maybe your a believer today and your struggling with believing that God can rescue you from the sin you are struggling with whatever it maybe, can I tell you the Good News there is Salvation and it comes in Believing God for Salvation, and the good news for the believer today is you can victory over sin when you believe God for his salvation.

B. For his Authority.

The second and final thing to point to notice here, is that Hezekiah believes God for his Authority. Hezekiah Believes God for his authority, When you pray Believe God for his authority after all you are talking to the God who created this world, and has power of everything and is sovereign over everything. Here in verse 20, Hezekiah is Believing God for his authority believing that he alone has the power to save them grips of the enemy. Is this not true for our own lives, let me admit something here, you know what I struggle with Believing God for his authority, and I'm sure that I am not the only one who does, alot of times when I am facing challenges I want to try to do it my way using my authority, however my authority isn't good enough but God’s is so when we pray we need to Believe God for his authority, and recognize that we would be nothing this world would be nothing without the authority of God. The truth is that God’s authority is over the entire earth, he has authority over darkness in the world, while darkness still exists in the world because of the fall of Adam and Eve, God still has authority and power over everything. You see here Hezekiah believed that only God had the authority to defeat the enemy only God had authority over the Assyrian leaders, today we need to believe that in the same way, that only Jesus can truly save us from the grips of the enemy Today we can submit to the authority of God, and when we believe in Jesus we can give up our sinful desires and trust that Jesus can rescue us from the enemy who comes to kill and destroy us, and Believing God for his authority will bring us life.

Conclusion: Recognize God, Request God, and Believe God.

You see Hezekiah here in his prayer he Recognized God, Requested God, and Believed God, this is the model of praying in faith to God. When Hezekiah recognizes God he is recounting God’s faithfulness in the past, when he is requesting God he is begging and crying out to God to please save them from the enemy, and he is desperately crying out to God because he knows that he is only one who can defeat the enemy, and thirdly we see that Hezekiah believes God for his salvation, he believes that only God can save them from the Assyrians and guess what because of his prayer later in this chapter we see where Sennacherib and the Assyrians are destroyed, and its because Hezekiah’s faith in his prayer, I got to be honest here, if you want to pray to God and you want to receive you got to have some faith that God is going to answer your prayer, I feel like so often you and I go into prayer defeated already, instead of coming to Father and approaching his throne in faith, so today believe God for his salvation, and finally believe God his Authority, since we have Jesus, who intercedes on our behalf we have direct access to the Father, we can Believe God for his authority and we can submit to that authority and believe in him and he will rescue you us from the enemy. When you pray you should believe in God’s authority and ability in faith to answer the prayer you are bringing before the Lord. So the final question I have to ask is Do you Believe God for his authority, like Hezekiah did? I will put this up for you on the screen write this down in a journal or whatever you have to write on?

Application: Do you believe God for his authority like Hezekiah did?

Today, I pray you would not walk away from here not believing God for his salvation in Jesus.

I will pray us out!

Prayer:

O God of Israel who has delivered the people of Israel from the wilderness, O Lord of Armies, are great warrior God who fights our battles, o God you are enthroned between the cherubim, and you are sovereign over every nation in the world. Today we come before you God, we ask you Lord to help us understand you more, God I pray that everyone in this room would know that when we are praying to you we are praying to God who has created everything, I pray today Lord there maybe some in this room who have never believed in you, God I pray today that they would call upon your name to be saved, I pray God for the believers in the room today, I pray that maybe a renewal in your prayer life, maybe there are some in here who are believers but there prayer is just not it right now, they are struggling to believe God for his deliverance, GOd I pray that everyone would recognize the freedom that God has for us, and that God will deliver us from anything we are going through. I pray this is in faith in the name of Jesus, Amen!